


With the World on Her Shoulders

by CoffeeComicsGalore



Series: 2021 Prompt Me Stories [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Césaire Is The Best, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Developing Friendships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Identity Reveal, Male-Female Friendship, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette March, Marinette March 2021, Mouse Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Multimouse, Moving On, Platonic Relationships, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Protective Alya Césaire, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Luka Couffaine, Protective Nino Lahiffe, Protective Sabine Cheng, Protective Tom Dupain, Secret Identity, Secrets, Strained Friendships, Strained Relationships, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, TV Special: Miraculous World: New York, Unrequited Love, just a little bit, protective classmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29790882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeComicsGalore/pseuds/CoffeeComicsGalore
Summary: With the world on her shoulders, Marinette feels alone. She spent the summer focusing on her guardianship, dealing with the "easy" task of her duties while handling the daunting task of moving on from Adrien Agreste. How will she handle the responsibilities this new school year? With the help of her friends, of course, but not without the fall of her own world in the process.For Marinette March 2021.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Series: 2021 Prompt Me Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189748
Comments: 17
Kudos: 76





	1. Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Welcome to Marinette March 2021!
> 
> I wasn't planning on writing this story, but I've been stuck in a writing rut since November, which is also hindering a lot of my WIPs. I'm usually a post and write by the seat of my pants type of person, and lately, having an outline for those stories has hindered my writing flow, so to speak. So I'm writing this story, daily, hoping that it will be the thing to get my mojo back.
> 
> Take a ride with me and Marinette as we go through some angst before we get to the fluff. No Salt here. With the world on her shoulders, she's going to need all the help she can get. 
> 
> xo Coffee

How could she have known that her life would have changed a year ago? How could she have known that the secrets that she kept hidden within her heart would keep her awake at night? How could she have predicted that she needed to live each day as if there was nothing to hide? She didn’t, and that made the guilt-filled stone that sat in the pit of her stomach weigh her down like she was a lead balloon.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have someone to talk to about this. She had Chat Noir. But even then, there were plenty of things that she couldn’t spill her thoughts on, especially with how much of a jumbled-up mess it always was.

She sighed as always, hoping that the heaviness in her chest would dimmish somewhat.

It didn’t.

She leaned her head down onto the railing, using her arms as a pillow to combat the hard iron under her skin. The feeling of the cool metal did nothing to cool her thoughts, but it was a nice break from the warmth that the summer day had brought.

She watched as the clear blue sky turned into deep oranges and yellows, the setting sun disappearing behind the Parisian skyline.

School would be starting in a few days, and she couldn’t deny that she wasn’t looking forward to the new school year. Just another year of responsibilities, another year of dealing with Chloe and Lila, another year of being Ladybug. The only difference this year would be adding is the Guardian role to her resume, and she could only hope that Hawkmoth would slow down on his attacks at least for a little while.

_Like that would actually happen,_ she thought not for the first time, not realizing that a tear escaped the corner of her eye until it fell from her chin.

But no. The other big difference was that she had to give up on Adrien completely. That was what pained her the most, resulting in her spending the summer alone.

She didn’t mean to keep her friends away. She just needed time to focus on how to move on. She used the excuses of bakery duties and commissions—which weren’t lies, per say—but they weren’t complete truths either. She spent most of the summer keeping her focus on learning the Grimoire, the only copy left that Master Fu had given to her during one of her training sessions with him. She had begun to translate half the book, going back to what Master had done and recopying the 300-page manuscript from scratch.

Between that, she spent time talking to all the Kwamis, learning each and every quirk and power up that each wielder would be able to have once transformed.

She had pages upon pages of different tactics that she had come up with, hoping that writing them all down would help her and Chat whenever it was needed.

Not only that, but she had a spreadsheet of all her friends, wondering if any of the Kwamis matched a person specifically for any future fight. She even considered all the pros and cons of reusing the exposed temporary heroes once again, and if she should hand a different miraculous to them so she could reuse their usefulness.

But nothing was more daunting than sitting there and willing herself to forget about her love for Adrien. And no matter how hard she tried, she failed miserably over and over again.

“Marinette?” A squeaky voice came out warily, her nose twitching as she hovered near her Master.

“Yes, Mullo?” Marinette somberly asked, twisting her body enough to see the mouse beside her.

“Tikki asked me to check up on you. She knows you’re upset with her right now, but she does care about you.”

Marinette closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply, letting out a calming breath as she chose through the plethora of words that swam around her head.

“I’m not mad at her.” She answered sincerely. She really wasn’t; she understood what Tikki had been trying to explain earlier, just as she had done over the last three months, but revealing her identity to Chat was something she just couldn’t do right now. Not when her entire world was hanging on by a thread. “I just can’t add more cheese to my plate right now.”

“But wouldn’t knowing Chat’s identity be less of a burden for you?”

Marinette mulled it over in her head once more. “Maybe. But I… I just can’t.”

Mullo tilted her head as she tried to understand. She had been there when Tikki and Marinette began to argue earlier. It was not something that she wanted to see, but she had heard the entire conversation even if while hiding behind the computer screen, and she was hoping that after seeing Tikki so down, that she could maybe convince Marinette to see it from a different point of view.

“I know I cannot convince you on those thoughts, Master, but what about taking a night off from everything, even for just a short moment?”

Marinette stood up and looked at the small mouse, the bluenette’s sad eyes furrowing slightly as she thought over her words.

“You know I can’t do that, Mullo.”

Mullo just smiled. “How about you run around as Multimouse once more? No responsibilities for an hour and stretch your legs. No patrolling, no saving, no akumas. Just you and me and the warm night air.”

Marinette smiled as the words seeped into her mind. She could feel the tension falling off her shoulders slightly, a moment of reprieve without the world needing her was something she so desperately needed.

“Okay.” Marinette smiled, a small moment that neither kwami had seen in weeks. “Mullo? Get squeaky.”


	2. Multimouse

Marinette felt the cool magic wash over her, giving way to a wave of comfort that slowly eased the heavy tension off her shoulders. She knew it would only be a short endeavor, something where she could focus on the cool air and the easy movements instead of the heavy feelings in her chest.

She opened up her hatch, carefully peaking in and looking around to find the red kwami that was hidden within the pillows on her bed.

“Tikki?” Multimouse cautiously called out to her, hoping that the little god would come up and greet her for a moment.

“Marinette?” Tikki replied softly, taking her time flying out from her spot before hovering in front of her holder’s face. Marinette tenderly smiled once she appeared. “Are you going for a run?”

“Yeah. Would you like to come with me? You can hide in one of my buns if you want? Get some air too?”

Tikki gave her a sad smile, before shaking her head and telling her to go. “You need this. Go enjoy yourself for a while. I’ll be here if you need me.”

Marinette nodded her head in understanding before closing the hatch. She turned and looked up at the night sky, appreciating the few stars that dotted the otherwise dark expanse. She closed her eyes as she inhaled a calming breath, before grasping her necklace in gratitude.

“Okay, Mullo. Let’s go.”

Removing the jump rope from her waist, Multimouse whipped it out towards the next railing, pulling her towards the building with ease. She ran over the rooftops, feeling the breezy movements without so much of a thought. She jumped and somersaulted, hopped over a chimney stack, and twisted into a front flip across three adjacent arrondissements.

She didn’t have a place in mind. She ran, and ran far, not caring for a moment where she would end up. Finally, she came to a stop, standing on top of the Grande Palais as she took a breather and appreciated the view.

It was the first time in months that she smiled—a real smile—one that she didn’t fake to appease her friends or family. It was one of the first real smiles that she had all summer long and she couldn’t deny that it felt both odd and exhilarating at the same time.

That was until an unwarranted visitor arrived.

“Multimouse?”

Multimouse stiffened as she heard her name, slowly turning around to greet her partner with a strained smile.

“Uh, hi?”

“What—what are you doing here? Where’s Ladybug?” Chat asked, stepping forward with an expression between a smirk and concern.

“Um…” Multimouse began, frowning at being caught as a temporary superhero. “She, um... Ladybug saw me upset and said I could be Multimouse? For tonight! Only tonight. Just for today.”

Chat narrowed his eyes as he thought over Marinette’s words. “Ladybug… let you use the Miraculous? For personal use? That doesn’t sound like her.”

_Shoot._ “Ladybug saw me out on my balcony and asked if I wouldn’t mind training, just in case!”

“Yet you said you were upset…” Chat looked at her as he rubbed his chin, “Are you okay? Ladybug wouldn’t just do any of that without a reason.”

Multimouse stiffened once again. She needed to plaster her fake smile to get him off her case. “Yeah, I’m so totally fine! Ha-ha! See?” She pointed to her wide grin, hoping and praying that he would fall for her façade. “Totally fine now.”

Chat narrowed his eyes once again as he weighed his thoughts. “Alright. I trust Ladybug and… I know I can trust you too. If you’re saying that Ladybug lent it to you for training purposes, even if you were upset? Then okay, I’ll believe you.”

Multimouse internally exhaled a sigh of relief, only to jump in surprise when Chat placed a clawed hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry!” He called out, removing his hands and placing them in front of himself in surrender. “I was just saying, if you need someone to talk to, I’m all ears.”

Multimouse smiled sincerely, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He smiled at the gesture.

“Thanks, Chat. I… just have a lot on my mind, is all. Nothing that you can help me with.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Just thankful that Ladybug saw me out on the balcony and gave me this chance.”

“She’s awesome like that,” Chat responded sincerely, looking out into the Parisian skyline. “Do you want me to escort you home or hang out with you a little while longer?”

Multimouse looked at Chat and shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll be okay. I should be heading home soon anyways. The quiet was a nice way to sort through my thoughts.”

Chat placed his hand on his chest in mock hurt. “ _Meowch._ So, you’re saying I’m a _chat-_ ter box then and my presence is affecting your thinking process?”

She giggled quietly, her eyes fluttering close as the breathy chuckle escaped her lips.

“Maybe.” She teased, beaming at him once his grin stretched across his face.

“Well then, I bid you adieu.” He bowed, grasping onto her hand and placing a small kiss on her knuckles. It prompted another small giggle. “I only came out to check on you anyway. You surprised me, is all. But now that I know you’re okay, I’ll be on my way home.”

“Thanks, Chat. I appreciate it.”

“Goodbye, Marinette.” He whispered once more, grabbing his baton before extending it and making his way back to where he came from.

As Multimouse watched his disappearing form, she couldn’t help but smile as she whispered to the wind: “I appreciate you more than you could ever know.”


	3. China

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! I'll be posting Chapter 4 sometime later today.

Marinette stared at her ceiling for the better part of three hours. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, yet no matter how many times she tried to fall into a deep slumber, her body just refused to accept the exhaustion. She rolled over for the umpteenth time, flipped her pillow twice more, and fixed her sheets until it was smoothed over without a wrinkle in sight.

She admitted defeat, sighing out in exasperation once her alarm rang out its fifth snooze.

“Marinette? Don’t you think it would be wise to just get up and head to school?”

Marinette let out a little growl, grabbed the pillow, and smothered herself with it, trying her best to drown out the world around her. If she wasn’t there, she didn’t have to go to school.

It was a very logical thought.

“You can’t hide from the world, Marinette. Just because the pillow is hiding you, doesn’t mean you can’t be found.” Marinette pulled the pillow from her face and scowled at her kwami. Tikki just continued to talk to her without a second thought. “You need to get to school. You don’t want to be late on your first day now do you?”

“Can’t I just move to China, Tikki? Maybe the Guardians in Tibet will take me in and then I don’t have to deal with anyone anymore.”

“You mean Adrien?” Tikki deadpanned, and Marinette refused to look at the god, lest she agrees with the true reason she didn’t want to go to school.

In reality, yes. She didn’t want to go to school and face Adrien. Facing Adrien meant that she needed o do what she put off all summer: moving on from him. It just still hurt that it all needed to happen, but putting everything else in her path instead was a better distraction. She just wasn’t ready to face the music.

But she also knew that there was a huge chance that she would be placed in a class with Chloe, or worse, Lila, and she just didn’t have the strength to deal with those two another year.

Especially with what happened with the Miracle Queen incident. She was still extremely salty over losing her allies like that.

But she knew it was inevitable. The class lists were all completed and everyone was already assigned to each room. It didn’t matter what she wanted or what she hoped. It was all a moot point by now.

Yet maybe there was a chance that she would be in a class with just Nino or Alya and she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else. Maybe she was stressing over nothing.

But she knew her luck better than that. Most likely, the fifth year is a charm, and she would get to be in Chloe’s class just like she had for the last four years.

That would just brighten her day even more.

Yet even with all that, she couldn’t deny that not having Adrien in her class would just be a blow to her heart, no matter how much seeing him would hurt her. He didn’t do anything wrong. He was a literal ball of sunshine and just seeing him put a smile on anyone’s (meaning ‘her’) face. Just because she couldn’t control her emotions, didn’t mean that she should subject him to the epitome of the silent treatment.

The wax museum incident only exasperated how her anxiety made him feel—feeling like they weren’t friends at all. She couldn’t do that to him again.

Marinette sighed, rubbing her palms against her face as she tried to calm herself down from the ledge.

“Marinette!” She heard a muffled voice call from the floor below. “You’re going to be late for school if you stay up there any longer!”

“Coming, Maman,” Marinette called out, finally sitting up with a blank stare. She turned to the little god and gave her a sad smile.

“Ready, Tikki? It’s time to just get the day over with already.”

“You’re going to be fine, Marinette. I know you’ll handle the day confidently! You’re Ladybug!”

“Yeah…” Marinette responded sadly. “I’m Ladybug.”

Tikki watched with worry as Marinette got up and forced herself through her daily motions, quietly wondering when her resolve would finally fall.


	4. Miracle Box

Marinette pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek before stepping out of the door. She made it down most of the steps while simultaneously biting into her croissant, but when she tried pushing her bangs away from her eyes at the same moment of taking another bite, she missed the second to last step of the stairs on the bottom floor, making her yelp in fear at her nosedive. Tom had stepped out into the hallway to bid his daughter farewell, catching her mid-flight before she landed face-first onto the floor.

“Careful, Marinette,” Tom warned, a slight frown on his face when he noticed the slightly disheveled look on his daughter’s face. “You don’t want to have a broken nose on your first day.”

“Yeah, I think that would be the least of my problems.”

Tom tilted his head. “Are you okay, Macaron? You don’t seem like yourself. You haven’t seemed like yourself in weeks.”

“I’m okay, papa. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You know you don’t have to handle things on your own. You have me and your mother, Alya, Nino, even that nice boy, Adrien.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, but then pursed her lips before looking down to her feet. “I know. I’ll say something if I need to.”

Tom smoothed his daughter’s hair before picking up her chin, making sure she looked into his eyes as he talked.

“We care about you. Just make sure you reach out. It’s okay to. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t, papa. I should go. I don’t want to be late for my first day.”

“Grab a croissant from the tray. They just came out of the oven. Plus, your half-eaten one has been trampled on a bit.” The two looked over to her smooshed pastry, the crumbs scattered at the base of the stairs. “I’ll clean. Go to school. I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Yeah…” Marinette sighed, giving her dad a somber smile. “Bye papa.”

Marinette pressed a kiss to her father’s cheek before grabbing a still-warm pastry and heading out the door.

“You have so many people that care, Marinette.” The little god peaked her head out of Marinette’s purse, hoping that her words would reach her chosen. “You should try to reach out to someone.”

“Yeah…” Marinette breathed out, looking both ways at the crosswalk before making her way across the street. “Just to be sure, Tik, the miracle box is connected to my yo-yo, right? I spent so much time in my room this summer that I really didn’t have a reason to need to worry about it. But we set it up that way, right?”

Tikki sighed out. They’ve had had this conversation plenty of times this summer, even once using the connection to grab a miraculous for Chat to fuse with. “Yes, Marinette. It hasn’t changed since the last time you needed the connection. It’s going to be okay. You’re just so focused on worrying about how today is going to go, you’re forgetting that you have everything in your hands already. Just take it one step at a time.”

Marinette pursed her lips, softly nodding as she reached her friends.

“Marinette!” Alya waved her down, Nino standing right beside her. Marinette walked up to her friends and plastered a smile, the heaviness in her chest becoming more and more prominent as the seconds ticked by. There was still no sign of Adrien.

“Hey, guys!”

 _Nevermind,_ she stiffened at the melodic sound, and she chided at herself for the immediate response. She swallowed and turned, waving at the blonde boy that was in the midst of greeting his best friend with their customary fist bump.

Marinette could see Alya squint her eyes at the bluenette, and she knew she needed to step away before something could be said.

“I just remembered I need to go see the student advisory board first thing this morning. I’ll see you all inside?”

But before Nino, Alya, or Adrien could mutter a word, she bolted up the steps, rounding the corner and vanishing from their view. She made her way to the locker room and found her locker, quickly tossing her things into it before running to the bathroom and locking herself into a stall.

She couldn’t help but start hyperventilating, grabbing onto her pigtails in a way to ground her.

“You need to calm down, Marinette. You just saw him. There was nothing else to it!” Tikki stressed, keeping a fretful eye for an akuma. “He’s just a boy. That’s it. There’s nothing else to him besides that!”

Marinette nodded, breathing in and out slowly just like Longg and Wayzz had shown her during one of their meditation sessions. She felt foolish, knowing full well Tikki was right. The pain was still evident though, and she couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

The way Adrien had left New York was one of the more precedent pieces that stuck out in her mind. He looked so heartbroken when he left, and she will never not feel like it was her fault for him leaving without anyone standing up for him. If she could go back in time, she would have at least asked him to stay, knowing full well that he wouldn’t have been able to with his dad forcing his hand to go. But to at least give him the knowledge that he was wanted and deserved to stay would have been enough, and she would never forgive herself for letting him feel like that.

But that’s what she was doing right now, wasn’t it? Making him feel like he was nothing more than a speckle of dust by vanishing without saying a word. It wasn’t fair and she needed to just stop this absurdity.

Taking one more breath, she unlocked herself from the stall, walking up to the mirror to fix her hair.

She slapped her cheeks and nodded to herself, walking out and meeting Alya at her locker.

“Girl.” Alya deadpanned, jutting her hip as she called her friend out on her lie. “You didn’t have to run, you know that, right?”

“I know.” Marinette sighed. “It’s just going to be harder than I thought. That’s all.”

Alya gave her a sympathetic smile, placing her hand on her shoulder.

“I know. That’s why you have me to keep you going. Treat him like you would Nino and it will be okay, alright?”

“Yeah.” Marinette smiled. “Let me get my bag and let’s head to class?”

“Let’s get to it. Don’t want to lose a good spot.”


	5. Cat Miraculous

Marinette walked into class, looking around for two open spots where she and Alya would be able to sit. She was about to turn to Alya to ask where she wanted to go when a sweet sound filled her ears, and the sound of Adrien’s voice could be heard in the front row as he waved them down.

“Hey! We saved you a spot.” He gestured to the two open seats behind him and Nino, making their seating arrangements the same as last year.

Marinette internally acknowledged to herself that this would be fine before pressing her lips into a tight smile, her expression softening when Adrien looked unsure for a moment before sliding his hand behind his neck. He looked down to the floor as he bit his lip, finally looking back up to them and rushing in with a way out if they didn’t want his kind gesture.

“If you want, that is. I just thought we could all sit together again?”

Alya nudged Marinette lightly before smirking, teasing the boy with her signature Alya greeting as she sat behind Nino.

“You’re too kind, Sunshine.” Alya scrunched up her nose as she sat down, placing her backpack onto her desk as she watched Marinette do the same.

“Thanks, Adrien.” Marinette placed her hand on his shoulder as she walked past him, resulting in his bright Adrien™ smile that only a few were privy to.

The boys had turned their bodies towards the girls to begin conversing, their discussions ranging from what classes each of them had to what their summers had been like. It was like neither of them had separated for long and Marinette felt satisfied as her anxiousness kept at bay. She continued her mantra that Adrien was just a friend, just like Nino, and that there was nothing more she could do. As long as her mantra continued, she felt mentally okay, handling any conversation the two had on their own like a war wasn’t raging in both her mind and heart.

The longer she could keep this up, the better, and she was already starting to feel okay when a black blur could be seen in the corner of her eye.

She blinked twice hoping that maybe she had something in her eye, but then she looked towards where the blur was seen to see if maybe something was there.

Adrien noticed her confusion and looked in the direction Marinette was looking, realizing nothing was there before looking back at Marinette.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Marinette slowly turned her head towards Adrien and smiled, her eyes still furrowed in confusion as she tried to come up with a reason for what her eyes had seen. Instead, she shrugged, cooling her features as she said as much.

“I thought I saw something black in the corner of my eye. I guess I’m just seeing things.”

Adrien tilted his head in confusion before shrugging himself, turning towards his bag, opening it up to gather his things.

He seemed alarmed for a moment, before looking up at the ceiling as if it had the answer to his problems, and Marinette just furrowed her brow in concern.

“Are _you_ okay Adrien?” Adrien stiffened slightly before turning, brandishing his model smile at her before coming up with his own response.

“Just forgot something at home, that’s all.” He chuckled lightly before running a hand through his hair, turning himself around as he tapped his fingers across the table while he muttered to himself.

Marinette shrugged and went to gather her own things, only to notice an additional passenger had taken residence in her bag. A very wide-eyed, black kwami with bright green eyes was now sitting beside her own kwami, the same kwami that was the god of the Black Cat Miraculous, aka Chat Noir’s kwami, the same kwami that should be near his holder at all times.

Any sound judgment, along with Marinette’s remaining ounce of mental stability, left her body in a horrifying screech, making her stand up and run out the door as if she had seen a ghost.


	6. Allies

The moment Marinette reached the broom closet that was down the hall in a hidden corridor away from any lingering eyes or following friends, she opened up her bag and scowled at the two sheepish looking kwamis, ready to scold the two before Tikki zipped in front of her eyes and stuck out her paws in surrender.

“Marinette. Relax. Breath.” Tikki began, helping her holder calm down as the anxious aura spilled from her body. Once Marinette closed her eyes and took in a few breaths, Tikki looked towards Plagg as he slowly flew up beside her, both staring at each other with a look of concern expressed in their features.

“She’s worse than I thought.” Marinette heard Plagg whisper to Tikki, prompting her to open her eyes and scowl at the god.

“I’m fine.” She sternly declared, her resolve crumbling when Plagg stared back at her with a look of disbelief.

“If you were fine, you wouldn’t have screamed when you noticed me.” Plagg crossed his arms and tilted his head. Marinette was about to retort when he tilted his head with a look of resolute, and she looked down and slumped her shoulders knowing that there was no way to get out of this predicament unscathed.

“Fine.” She looked up, the tension in her shoulders becoming more prominent the longer she stared at him. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with Chat?”

“I came to talk to Tikki. We were in the neighborhood.”

“You were… in the neighborhood,” Marinette asked dryly, choosing to not think about where his holder could be at this very moment.

“Yup.” Plagg crossed his arms and looked away. Marinette turned towards Tikki to see if what he was saying was true.

Tikki let out a tired sigh, finally explaining what he was truly doing in Marinette’s purse.

“Plagg and I were talking about bringing in more allies.” Tikki noticed Marinette’s alarmed look at the thought, quickly interrupting her before she could tell her it wasn’t possible. “It is possible and you need to do it, Marinette. Plagg and I are both worried about you and you are stressing yourself out that you’re making yourself sick. You need help and we both agree that you need to do it.”

“But—”

“No buts, pigtails. Chat has noticed you being completely closed off lately. You’re not smiling, you’re not talking, you’re not enjoying yourself like you once were. He’s worried about you, and honestly, so have I.” Plagg hovered close to her face, placing a comforting paw over her cheek.

“Plagg isn’t one to show his feelings, Marinette. So, for him to worry about you and explicitly state it… well, that’s when you should consider his words.”

Marinette looked down as she thought about the idea. She couldn’t bring out any more allies. She couldn’t risk allowing anyone to get hurt or get their identities revealed just like the Miracle Queen incident. All her trusted allies were no longer able to fight alongside her and Chat, and she couldn’t risk any of her other friends or close confidants possibly do the same.

She needed to figure out how to defeat Hawkmoth on her own, with Chat working closely beside her, but she needed to figure out the plans before bringing him into the discussion.

It was why she stayed up every night figuring out how each miraculous worked and who would be better suited to use the miraculous. Yeah, she had placed names of a user beside each Miraculous so whenever Tikki looked at her thought process, it seemed like she was choosing someone to help, but she placed a simple symbol beside each name that meant either her or Chat. She only wanted it to seem like she was going to reach out for help, but in the end, she could never want to cause her friends unintentional harm.

“I know what the symbols mean, Marinette.” Tikki glared at her as if figuring out what she was thinking, and Marinette feigned innocence, making it seem like she had no idea what Tikki was talking about. “I know the horizontal lines mean you while the vertical lines mean Chat. You muttered it once while I was falling asleep. You need to bring in new users, Marinette. This isn’t healthy, and you know it.”

Marinette stared at both kwamis, hoping to come up with a valuable reason as to why she couldn’t have other users, nothing more than ‘risking identities and safety’ coming to the forefront of her mind. But she knew that that reasoning was a moot excuse, resulting in countless arguments between her and Tikki over the past few months.

Instead, Marinette choked in a sob, hoping beyond hope that she could calm herself down enough as the first bell rang.

“I—I can’t.” Her voice began to crack, any remaining resolve crumbling as she covered her eyes, not noticing the kwamis hiding and the door opening, revealing a very worried Alya and an equally concerned Adrien at the doorway.


	7. All Nighter

Alya reached into the closet and grabbed her best friend, wrapping her arms around Marinette’s shoulders and holding her close as the bluenette cried. She could feel another hand reach up and press between her shoulder blades, the hand moving up and down in a comforting motion.

After a few moments, Marinette straightened up, cleaning the tear tracks that ran down her face as she glared at the ground.

“Th-thanks guys. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Alya began before looking at Adrien in confusion. “You screamed and ran out of the classroom. We only found you when we heard you talking to someone.”

“Y-yeah. I’m fine. Just…” she scuffed her foot against the floor as she thought of something, fiddling with her fingers in the process. “I thought I saw a spider in my bag and ran. I hid in here to calm down and I was talking to myself to do that.”

“You ran because of a spider? I didn’t think you were afraid of anything, Marinette.” Adrien said softly, a small smile pulling one side of his lip as he tried to reassure her no one would question her sudden disappearance.

“Yeah. I… pulled an all nighter last night. I must have just been seeing things because of it. Not sleeping kind of does that to you, doesn’t it? Ha… ha.” She finished, resolutely, jumping slightly when she heard the second bell.

“Let’s get back to class. Nino stayed behind to let the teacher know we went out to find you so we wouldn’t get in trouble in case we came back late.” Alya pulled out her phone and typed something furiously, most likely letting him know she was found.

Marinette watched as Alya turned and walked back towards the class, Adrien waiting for Marinette so he could escort her back without being alone.

“You can go off ahead, Adrien. You don’t have to wait for me.”

“No. It’s okay. You look like you need a friend today. Luckily, we have pretty much all the same classes. If you need someone to keep you going, you can always ask.”

Marinette smiled shyly, beginning her trek back to class beside him. They walked quietly, Marinette fidgeting with her purse strap as she struggled to formulate a sentence. Finally, with two nudges from her purse, she gathered the courage and spoke.

“Thanks for finding me.” She stated quietly, looking at him once they reached the classroom door. “It means a lot to me that you’re my friend. I just want you to know that.”

Adrien smiled affectionately. “I’m glad we’re friends, Marinette. You mean the world to me too.”

Marinette smiled and walked in, waving to the teacher before sitting down and letting out a calming breath. She finally said a sentence without stuttering. It was one step into moving on and she was hoping it would continue throughout the day.

No one questioned why she ran out of the room the way she did, which she thanked Alya for filling them in with a vague, yet simple, reasoning that screamed ‘Marinette’.

Adrien, Nino, and Alya kept an eye on her, which she thanked them throughout the day. The rest of the day went without a hitch, and she took a calming breath when Plagg had left her purse sometime that morning.

When she got home after school, she finally let out the tension that she had built in her shoulders as she made her way into her room.

“Why don’t you try taking a nap before patrol, Marinette? You could use the extra rest.”

Marinette could feel the exhaustion of the day seeping into her bones, the heavy mental load taking a toll on her body. She thought it over for a moment before putting her bag down beside her table, the bluenette plopping down on the chair and slumping her forehead against the tabletop as she thought it over.

“I can’t.” She mumbled out before turning her head to look at the kwami. “I need to just get these assignments done first. I’ll head to bed early tonight. I promise.”

Tikki pressed her lips tightly, deciding it was better to not fight with her over it once again.

“Okay, Marinette. I’ll be over there until you’re ready.”

Marinette smiled as she gathered the items from her bag, silently thanking Tikki for not fighting with her today. She just didn’t have the energy to do so.

“Alright.” She stated as she looked over her math problems. “Let’s get this over with.”


End file.
